


legend of the mistletoe

by xxprincessxx



Series: 12 Days of Christmas [5]
Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas fic, F/M, Fluff, Mistletoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:48:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27821002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxprincessxx/pseuds/xxprincessxx
Summary: Nini tells Ricky the story about the true reason people kiss underneath the mistletoe.
Relationships: Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Series: 12 Days of Christmas [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2029471
Comments: 9
Kudos: 49





	legend of the mistletoe

**Author's Note:**

> another christmas fic for you all, i hope you're enjoying these as much i enjoyed writing them! 
> 
> this one is for the anon that was asking for a mistletoe kiss!! if you're looking to send me requests, even tho im really slow at getting to them, you can find me on tumblr @nini-ricky !!
> 
> this one is also kind of in honour of the special that came out today! i thought it was so incredibly heartwarming and sweet and i just loved everything about it! if you haven't watched it yet, i highly suggest you do hehe this was definitely planned to be released on the day of the special, having been written since like the first of december LMAO
> 
> anyways, i hope you enjoy xx

“You know,” Nini scrunches her nose as she sees a couple on the other side of the park kissing underneath some mistletoe that hung on the pavilion, “I never really understood the whole mistletoe thing.”  
  
Ricky laughs at his best friend’s comment, looking over to the couple Nini’s eyes were on earlier. The small girl was all bundled up in a fuzzy jacket, a cup of hot chocolate was warming up her cold hands. Her hair was tangled from the wind blowing it around and the long day they’ve had. 

It was the second Friday of December and they’ve been busy with finals and the end of the semester. Deciding to have a little stress buster night, they had gone out for a quick bite to eat at Taco Bell and watched whatever was playing at the theatre. Since it was the holidays, they were playing some old Christmas movies and they ended up watching _Home Alone_.

The film finished about half an hour ago and neither really wanted their night to end, having too much fun spending time together. Deciding to grab a cup of hot chocolate piled high with whipped cream and cinnamon at the Starbucks a few blocks over. There was a beautifully lit up park across the street, considering the late hour there were only a few people walking around the park. 

Most of them were couples taking selfies together or capturing the lights that were strung up in the trees. The lights and the snow really brought out the Christmas spirit in the air. A small group was playing low Christmas music from their phone, singing along to whatever song would come up. 

“What do you mean?” Ricky asks the smaller girl, taking ahold of her arm guiding her to the left side to avoid the big group of people approaching them. 

Nini shrugs, taking a sip of her chocolatey beverage letting out a sigh as the warm liquid trickled down her throat. “Do you know the story of the mistletoe?” She questions. 

Pressing his lips together in thought, he shakes his head in answer. “I think the mistletoe is cute.”

“The concept, yeah.” She nods as they walked aimlessly, “Okay, so it’s some Norse mythology story that I read back a while ago.” 

“Oh, when you got into that because of that one series, right?” He interjects, snapping his fingers trying to recall the name of the books that she was raving about for months.

Nini laughs, ducking her head slightly in embarrassment, “Magnus Chase, yeah.” She looks up her eyes beaming up at him. She didn’t think he’d remember such a small detail about her, thankful that the weather tinted her cheeks red or else he’d be able to tell the blush that was crawling up her neck. 

“Anyways, uh, so there was this goddess that really loved her son, his name's Baldur, and she didn’t want anything to harm him.” She starts to tell the story, the pair slowly approaching the pavilion that they had once saw the couple. “So, she basically commanded literally everything to not cause any harm on him. From animals to plants and whatever. And I guess, she missed one plant since there’s so many things she had to command.”

“The mistletoe.” Ricky points over to the green plant hanging on the white structure. 

A puff of air comes out of her nose as she nods in agreement. “Exactly.” She smiles, the pair walking up towards the pavilion, taking a seat on the steps. Nini bites her lip as she feels the boy’s shoulder brush up against hers as he settles down next to her. 

Pressing her lips together before she continues the story, “Since mistletoe was the only thing that could harm him, Loki, god of mischief, tricked Höd this blind god into shooting a mistletoe branch straight into Baldur’s heart.” 

“What?” Ricky shakes his head, taken aback by what she had said, “Why?”

The brunette hums in thought, “People on Reddit say it’s because he was basically immortal and he was jealous of that. And apparently he was like this really kind and compassionate guy, so he decided to kill him.” 

“Wow.” Ricky breathes out, leaning back slightly as he props his elbows on the step behind him. Looking up at the girl that was chuckling at his response, the pair taking slow and languid sips of their drink. “Is there more to the story?” He inquires, since the brunette didn’t seem like she was going to elaborate. 

“Uh yeah,” She nods, shifting to face him more, their knees knocking into each other. At the action, Ricky knocks his knee into hers more purposefully to which the brunette chuckles, hitting his thigh in retaliation. “So after his mom found out about his death, she asked the goddess of death for her son’s ransom.” 

“Did it work?” He raises an eyebrow, gulping his now lukewarm drink.

Nini smiles, she loved the fact that he was so intrigued with her story. “Eventually, yeah.” She answers.

His tongue darts out to lick his lips as he squints at the girl in front of him, “Okay, so like I get the whole weirded out thing about the mistletoe. But where does the whole kissing thing come from then?” 

“Well, since she got her son back, she turned the mistletoe from a symbol of death to love. We kiss underneath the mistletoe to resemble the love that was brought back to her.” Nini informs him, shrugging her shoulders, “I just never really understood the whole romantic connotation behind it.” 

“Maybe it’s because you’ve never been kissed underneath the mistletoe.” He points out.

Her jaw slackens at his comment, “Excuse you, Richard!?” She scoffs, setting her nearly empty cup down on the step next to her. 

Ricky sits up shocked by his best friend’s outburst, “I didn’t mean it in a bad way!” He defends. 

Nini licks her lips shaking her head at the boy, her cheeks burning red in embarrassment, “That doesn’t mean you have to say it out loud.” She grumbles, crossing her arms over her knees hugging them tightly to her chest. 

“Oh, come on Nin,” He wraps his arm around her waist, pulling her into his side. 

“No,” She pushes at him, “You’re being mean.”

Sticking his bottom lip out at her, “Nini, please.” He begs, “I’m sorry, it wasn’t supposed to be a jab at anything.” 

“You basically called me unromantic, Ricky.” She huffs, “Probably why no boys are lining up to kiss me.” Nini mumbles underneath her breath, so low that Ricky wouldn’t have caught it if his attention was focused solely on her.

Suddenly, Ricky raises to his feet, sticking his hand out for her to take. Nini eyes him quizzically not quite sure what he was planning on doing, but she took his hand nonetheless. As her cold fingers came in contact with his palm, he grips her hand tightly as he pulls her up the pavilion to where the small green plant hung. 

Her eyes widen as she realized his destination, she yanks on his hand causing them to falter. Ricky turns his head to look at NIni who was a step or two down from him. Immediately he saw questions floating in her dark brown orbs that were being illuminated by all the lights that were twirled around the pavilion’s pillars. 

“What are you doing?” Nini breathes out. 

“Just,” He pulls on her hand, causing Nini to take another step up, “Proving a point.” 

They make the small travel up the stairs, the pair standing underneath the green plant that Nini’s always been a little weirded out by. Tilting her head up to look at the twig that had green leaves and white little berries and red ribbon tied in a little bow. Her tongue darts out on instinct, not really sure what was going to happen next.

Ricky takes her other hand in his, a smile slipping onto his face as he glances down at Nini’s pink lips. Pulling her into his space slightly, causing the brunette to divert her gaze from the plant hanging above them to the boy in front of her. Running his thumbs over her knuckles lightly, a low chuckle escaping his chest. 

“You’re not unromantic, Nini.” Ricky says, “But, I’m kind of glad that boys aren’t lining up waiting to kiss you.” 

NIni draws her lip between her teeth for a moment, “And why is that?” She gulps. 

“Because then I couldn’t do this.” He whispers, a hand leaving hers to cup her cheek his thumb grazing over her soft cold skin staring down into her eyes for a moment. 

As he begins to lean in, he’s quietly asking for permission. Giving her enough time to pull back or tell him to stop but she never does. Just before he leans too closely, he pulls back ever so slightly to smile at the brunette. His pearly white smile completely enchanted her, she brings her free hand to rest on his waist lightly. And before either of them know it, their lips were molded together. 

Both of their eyes falling shut, letting themselves be washed over by their unsaid words and the emotions of the kiss. Both of his hands move to the small of her back, pulling her more into his embrace as he slips his hands underneath her coat, his lips pressing down against hers a little harder. He ducks his head as Nini raises on the tips of her toes, moving to wrap her arms around his neck to gain leverage as they deepen the kiss. 

After a few more moments, Nini’s the first to pull back leaning her forehead against his before planting her feet back down on the ground. Her chest was rising and falling as she was bringing oxygen back into her lungs. Nini giggles as she tightens her hold around his neck, as Ricky lets out his own laugh, placing his head in the crook of her neck. 

Reflecting on what had just happened, Nini takes a small step back to get a good look at the boy that she calls her best friend. After that kiss she wasn’t exactly certain where they stood, but she was sure hoping they wouldn’t go back to being just friends. Pressing her lips together as Ricky smiles down at the girl, puffs of fog escaping their mouths as their warm breath hits the cold air. 

“So,” Ricky’s lips begin to form into a smirk, “Is the mistletoe really that bad?”

Nini smiles, drawing her now puffy lip in between her teeth, “I guess not.” She shrugs nonchalantly, threading her fingers through his curly hair. “Just so you know," Nini's eyes beam brightly at the man standing in front of her, "You don't need a mistletoe to kiss me."

A smile takes on both of their faces, Ricky's thumb rubs over the exposed skin between her jeans and her shirt, "Duly noted."


End file.
